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tv   America Live  FOX News  December 27, 2012 10:00am-12:00pm PST

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one boy. take a look. [crying] >> i'm so happy. >> you're so happy? [laughter] jon: yeah, that is 7-year-old reese maza, crying because he is happy. he was so excited he got the videogame that he wanted for christmas he broke down in tears. harris: ah. jon: dad said he never seen anything like it and posted the video. becoming a viral sensation on youtube. so now you know. that is all it takes. harris: remember those years? i know your boys are grown up now but wow, right? brings it all back. jon: never did get a reaction like that from anything. harris: that is what i do when i finish co-hosting on "happening now." i cry with joy and happiness. it was fun. jon: or that it is over. harris: no, never. jon: good to have you in, harris. thank you for joining us. "america live" starts right now. >> fox news extreme weather alert on the deadly storm that has caused major problems from texas to the
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northeast the storm is now blamed for a total of 15 deaths. whipping up tornados in the south, strong winds and rain along the atlantic coastline and dumping heavy snow from the plains to new england. the northeast getting hammered today. some areas are seeing more than a foot of snow while others deal with a heavy wind-swept rain leading to big airport delays in ohio, more than a thousand trucks are sent out, some getting heavy police escort as winds cause zero visibility. drivers say the situation is awful. >> i have seen 10 cars in an accident. i have saw a lexus fly into a ditch. i saw a semi-truck jackknife. all kinds of stuff. >> i have lost count of the number of cars i've seen in the ditch. i saw a jackknifed tractor-trailer. i saw a horse trailer that was turned over. so i think people are just
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not really driving slow enough for the conditions. >> pretty rough. we've seen a lot of accidents thus far in ohio turnpike and, wish people would slow down a little bit, you know? it's pretty slick. gregg: it sure is. all right. welcome to "america live". i'm gregg jarrett. >> and i'm heather childers we're in for megyn kelly delaying holiday travelers trying to make their way home. gregg: some of the worst weather has been in pennsylvania. that's where we find our own anna kooiman who is live in clarks summit. hi, anna. >> reporter: good afternoon to both of you and to everyone at home. it led up here in clarks summit, pennsylvania. aside from a few flurries blowing around from the wind. it is coming down in parts of new york state and across the new england states. new york's governor andrew
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cuomo, has opened up an emergency operations center and he also warned power companies to really be on their toes especially following all the criticism that happened for their slow response from superstorm sandy and getting power turned back on for those residents who were in the dark and the cold for a couple of weeks. our plans changed a little bit last night. we decided to spend the night in clarks summit because the road conditions deteriorated and we didn't want to go farther north. the borough president told me their snow totals were down last year and they were able to stockpile some of the salt from the roadways last year and that's what they're using for this storm. council president says they're happy this first snowstorm of the season hasn't been a major blizzard for them. >> we're on a good track this year and, you know, the weather, you take what you get. and, we're going to make lemonade out of it i guess. >> reporter: and for holiday
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travelers trying to make it home this weather has really thrown a wrench into their plans. a jetliner in pittsburgh actually got trapped somehow in the snow on the tarmac. as far as cancellations go, there were 1600 of them yesterday. more than 500 already today. and the airports in newark, new jersey, and also laguardia in new york are operating, guys, on a one-hour delay we're told currently. back to you. gregg: anna kooiman, live in clarks summit, pennsylvania. anna, thanks. this major winter storm is not just taking a toll on motorists. check out the packed jetliner in long island, new york, after it somehow skidded off the runway. the tampa-bound flight was carrying 129 passengers when suddenly it veered into the grass. a spokesman for southwest airlines says it is unclear how the plane wound up off the runway and nobody was injured. an investigation is ongoing. heather: well, new developments to tell you
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about in the terror attack in libya that killed four americans on september 11th of this year. we're now learning that the four state department officials placed on administrative leave after that scathing report on security lapses that led to those deaths are now back on the job. peter doocy is live for us from washington with more on this. hi, peter. >> reporter: heather, the state's department's accountability review board singled out these four people for doing their jobs poorly ahead of the benghazi terror attack on 9/11 the state department told us last week they were all either gone or demoted. this is direct quote from spokeswoman victoria knew land. secretary clinton accepted eric boss equal's decision to resign as effective up immediately. the other three individuals have been relieved of their current duties. all four individuals have been placed on administrative leave pending further action. the "new york post" is
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reporting those folks are still on the state department payroll. eric boswell who they said resigned did not resign and all four will be back to work before too long. >> they just shifted the deck chairs and they want to make the american people believe that the state department has held people accountable for their lack of security and sending help to four brave americans. this is incredibly inept of the state department to think that it continue to fool the american public. pathetic. >> reporter: we've asked the state department about this and they have chosen so far not to clarify or deny any of it. keep in mind that right now, they're trying to transition from the clinton era to the kerry era. >> secretary clinton as you heard her say before has pledged to have a smooth transition with her successor. i don't have any phone calls or other activities of hers to read out other than to say she continues to be on the mend and continues to recover. >> reporter: i spoke to one
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republican senate staffer this morning who said the sense he gets is that a lot of republican senators still want to hear from secretary chrirnt ton. secretary clinton and want to hear from her before she steps down. so they want testimony about benghazi from the sitting secretary of state, hillary clinton in the next few weeks. heather? heather: we will see if that happens. thank you very much, peter. coming up we'll speak with former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. john bolton how and why these officials still have their jobs. gregg: just four days to the new year and potentially the fiscal cliff so far little to know progress reported in making a deal to avert across the board tax hikes for 90% of the american households. it's been 10 days since the president and the speaker held any substantial face-to-face meetings. is time up or is it still possible for both sides to reach a last minute deal? let's put the question to byron york of the
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"washington examiner". too late or, gosh, maybe this is so easy you can wait until the last minute? >> i guess it depends whether you believe in miracles, gregg. gregg: i don't. >> the only thing that is really happening is the days are ticking by. i think what we've got is, you go first situation here. remember, after the so-called plan b failed in the house, john boehner, speaker of the house said, look, it's up to the senate. we'll not do anything more. we already passed a bill a while back that would extend bush tax cuts for everybody. it is up to the senate to do something. you have senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, the republican saying it is up to the democrats to do something. we'll not do anything until president obama and the democrats come up with a plan and president obama actually late yesterday did call all four leaders, majority, minority leaders in the house and senate that includes mitch mcconnell and said the first time a democrat called him since
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thanksgiving to talk about this. so they're talking but there is no indication anybody is actually doing anything right now. gregg: what about harry reid? what's his, does he have anything at all maybe towards the end of the week he will put on the table? i've been hearing he will put to a vote an extension of the bush tax cuts for anybody making under $250,000 a year, extend unemployment benefits for some 2 million people that are about to lose them. what are you hearing? >> right. he sounded pretty pessimistic this morning but that could change and there's, kind of a fight, procedurally between the house and the senate in a sense that if reid originates a bill in the senate that would do what you said, people in the house say, well that would be unacceptable because the constitution requires revenue bills to originate in the house. but there is this bill that the house did pass a while back extending tax cuts for everybody. the senate could actually amend that bill. it originated in the house
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and then send it back and actually get somewhere. you have to remember that john boehner actually gave in on the principle of raising tax rates for the highest earners. he wanted to set it at one million dollars. president wanted 250 or maybe 400,000. but boehner gave in on that principle and i talked to republicans. it sounds to me like 80 to 85% of the republicans in the house were willing to vote with boehner on that issue. they were willing to go for raising tax rates on the highest earners. there was at least 200 republican votes. so that is something to work with. and it is entirely possible there could be a deal along those lines that includes democratic votes to get boehner over the top in the house. gregg: i was going to say, if harry reid passes it in the senate, then it goes to the house you about, the republicans who voted down plan b or didn't even get a chance to vote down plan b but they would havep a parently, they're going to wish they had voted in favor of plan b, won't they? >> well it could be because
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plan. about was at least a million dollars. but all the attention has been paid to those republican who is stopped plan b and not enough attention has been paid to those republicans who were willing to go along with plan b. what i'm told that is at least 80% of the republican caucus in the house. if there is a deal that some democrats would vote for, a bill could get out of the house. gregg: tim geithner, the treasury secretary, said the debt ceiling will be hit by december 31st. now there's, you know, he has got some room to play. you know, he can move money around and probably get you through to february but is that the bargaining chip, the leverage that republicans have yet to exercise? >> that's, they certainly hope to exercise that. they have been talking about doing that for a long time but they wanted that to be separate from the deal now to do something about tax rates. they looked at fighting over the fiscal, excuse me over the debt ceiling something that would happen in february, not now but february.
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geithner says, hey, we're going over the debt ceiling, we're popping up against the debt ceiling on december 31st. what will happen then. nobody believes that is a hard deadline. they do believe that could be pushed a month or two, perhaps even more into the future and republicans are definitely going to try to push, to use that debt ceiling fight as leverage to get some spending cuts. the bottom line for republicans is, they want substantial spending cuts, specially in entitlement spending going forward. gregg: byron york, thank you very much. >> thank you, gregg. gregg: all right. heather: well, right now, former president george h.w. bush is in the intensive care unit at a houston hospital. doctors say they're treating him for a fever and that the 88-year-old former president is in what they're calling guarded condition. trace gallagher has the latest on this from our west coast newsroom. trace? >> reporter: and, heather, the former president has been in the hospital for better part of two months. remember was admitted november 7th.
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spent 10 days at methodist hospital. was released for a few days and back on november 23rd. he has been there ever since the initial problem was the bronchitis but now doctors say that has improved a quite a bit and coughing only once or twice a day. but now the big fear he has this fever that simply will not go away. doctors tell have not figured out exactly what's causing it. the concern it is bacterial infection which is very tough for elderly people to battle. the former president's spokesman says you don't go to the icu if you're doing well. listen. >> he's not, he's, you know he is in critical condition. he's in a bad way but, you know the doctors believe that there's a path for him to recover from this and, if we can, if we can get him to rally a little bit we can start talking about a discharge date but we're not there yet. >> reporter: we should point out he is alert, he is talking. he had chinese food for christmas dinner and his
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entire family came to visit him. part of the reason he is in icu and he is former president and doctors are still optimistic he will get better. but there is no talk at all right now of discharging him. right now it's all about trying to get that fever down to normal levels, heather. heather: let's really hope they can do that. thanks very much, trace. gregg? gregg: new information about the man behind the horrific newtown, connecticut massacre. what scientists may learn about the gunman and why he carried out such a monstrous act. heather: new concern of president obama's new choice for secretary of state. why republican senators are refusing to approve senator kerry. gregg: ambassador john bolton will be us to yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved!
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secretary of state. some republican senators refusing to vote to confirm massachusetts senator john kerry until america's current top diplomat, hillary clinton, testifies about the terror attack in libya that killed four americans on september 11th. former u.s. ambassador to the united nations john bolton and a fox news contributor joins us. thanks for being with us today. if she testifies, what do you want to hear from her? >> well, i think there are a range of questions that only she could answer. it's been now 3 1/2 months since the tragedy and secretary clinton has not answered questions with the press or before congress and they are really very straightforward. what did she know? when did she know it and what did she do about it both before, during and after the attack. >> there is strong incentive for john kerry who the president named to succeed
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secretary clinton to get on with his own confirmation process. gregg: yeah. he will be interviewing her. you wrote an op-ed in the "new york post." let me quote. a series of excuses have conveniently al loued her, meaning hillary clinton to which the report released came out a few days ago. clinton sailed right along preparing the first steps for what is widely expected to be her 2016 presidential campaign. a series of conveniently, a series of excuses conveniently allowed her to escape. do you think she made that up? >> well, i think what she wanted to do, i think the central strategy here was to avoid testifying or having a press conference before the accountability review board report came out, because that avoids the risk. her saying one thing, having the report say another thing and then having to fix her story later.
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all right. well she succeeded in that. the report is out. it is absolutely devastating about department failures. she's the captain of the ship over there. she's the one who should answer the questions. gregg: she would say, look, yeah, obviously the buck stops here but i do have 50,000 employees at the department of state and, you know, really, can you hold me responsible for all of their individual acts? >> well, i think libya, obviously the case we're talking about, is different than iceland or luxembourg. it was a centerpiece of the obama administration foreign policy. remember this was their big success, leading from behind. it fits into the administration narrative that the war on terror is over. that al qaeda has been defeated. that the arab spring has brought democracy to libya and the middle east. all that was disproven by the tragedy in benghazi on september the 11th and i think these are all questions senators want to
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hear answers to. gregg: do you think she and president obama both were convinced that the war on terror was over an al qaeda was defeated? >> yeah. i think their world view is badly misguided and i think it was ideology more than anything else that convinced them that certainly this could not have been a terrorist attack. it must have been a response by some demonstration, protesting the mohammed video, getting out of control. a lot of people in congress have said the mohammed video story was a cover-up. i actually hope for the good of the country that is true because at least it would demonstrate that the president understood reality. he was trying to sweep it aside. i'm worried that the ideology that controls the white house and presumably the state department which we're going to see four more years of, leaves us dangerously unprepared to meet the threats that we see from al qaeda, from other terrorist groups in the middle east and around the world. gregg: what do you think john kerry brings to the table?
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>> well, he certainly has a lot of experience, although a lot of it has been badly, bad judgment in a range of issues. he has been soft on the iranian nuclear weapons program. he has been soft on the north korean nuclear weapons program. he has been soft on russian desires to recreate russian hogeminy in the former soviet union. he has been soft on china's territorial demand in the south china sea. i could go on. i think he will fit very nicely with the obama administration. that is what has me worried. gregg: soft would be the word that you would use to describe him. ambassador john bolton, as always thank you. >> thank you. heather: well, coming up, not your average day at the shopping mall, when this massive aquarium tank burst into millions of people, millions of piece i should say. the big fish inside were not exactly the friendly type. gregg: yeah. lemon sharks.
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a major dust-up over an image of mark zuckerberg's sister on facebook. the facebook family fiasco is coming up. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.
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gregg: city bus driver very lucky to be alive today. he was driving what looked like through a giant puddle in southern california. well turns out it was a massive sinkhole. the witness describes the scene. >> very much looked like the titanic. one end was up, the other end was face down in the water. >> the water was pretty much up to my tires. >> it kept getting worse. we had water halfway up our driveway. gregg: the driver was able to climb through a window safely as his bus went under. a water main break caused major damage in oceanside, california. the city had to shut off water to 400 houses in order to fix that problem. heather: well facebook's controversial privacy settings proving tricky for even the most in the know users the company's former marketing director in fact, and sister of founder, mark
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zuckerberg, complaining that a photo that she meant to keep private somehow went viral. trace gallagher has the details from our west coast newsroom. trace? >> reporter: her name by the way, heather, is randi zuckerberg. she is the former marketing director. the facebook picture was a her family reacting to a photo application that facebook is putting out of the the problem she tagged somebody in the photo. forbes, if i took a picture together with you i tagged you your friends would have access to it. what happened, someone took her picture, reposted it on twitter and then sent it to randi zuckerberg's 40,000 followers. she tweeted not sure how she the person got the photo but the post to twitter is way uncool. person responded, i'm your subscriber. this is top of my news feed.
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generally sorry and came up in my feed and seemed public. zuckerberg, responded, quote, digital etiquette always ask permissions before posting a friend's photo publicly. it is no the about privacy settings but about human decency. irony, here, facebook's privacy settings have gotten a great deal of note right in recent months because there is a lot of concern what is fair game and what is not. kind of nice to see even the insiders get tripped up occasionally. but she says not about the privacy settings. it is about simple theket on line. >> digital theket. here is the thing they're constantly changing the settings so difficult to stay on top of. thank you very much, trace. >> reporter: okay. gregg: if you have plans for the new year we hope it includes fox news's all american new year's eve. did we tell you about this yet? it begins at 11:00 p.m. eastern on new year's eve. megyn kelly, bill hemmer,
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will bring you the big event live from times square in new york city. you can be a part of the broadcast by texting your happy new year's message to the show. it is really simple. you will you have to do is type the letter u, text, all one word, leave a space and type a brief message and send it to 36288. again, utext space, your message to 36288 and watch for your message on new year's eve. it will be fun. heather: it is. senate majority leader harry reid now saying that it appears that the government will miss the deadline for avoiding the fiscal cliff. so what will that mean, and how will america respond come january 1st? gregg: new developments in the investigation into the deadly connecticut school shooting. jenette sises have been asked to study the gunman's dna. what can they learn about it?
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gregg: severe weather alert. winter warnings in effect as a brutal storm is sweeping through the u.s. it brought massive amounts of snow and even tornados to parts of country and claimed at least 15 lives. illinois was no exception. major problems on the roads as snow and sleet pounded the area, forcing some businesses to remain closed. maria molina is keeping an eye on the storm from the extreme weather center. we're going to get the latest, top of the hour. >> new year's eve is fast approaching and for decade
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and decade the american people have watched the ball drop in times square. it is the countdown to midnight, the start of a new year. but this year, mr. president, the american people are waiting for the ball to drop but it will not be a good drop. heather: those words from senate majority leader harry reid as anxiety rises in washington over a fiscal crisis that could raise taxes for nearly every american. while the president cut his holiday short to, maybe, help come up with a plan, house speaker boehner says the people who can prevent us from going over it are not in the white house. simon rosenberg, former clinton campaign advisor and president and founder of the new democrat network. mark these send, former bush speechwriter and fellow at american enterprise institute joins us with more insight. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you, heather. heather: more and more people are saying this fiscal cliff deal isn't
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going to happen pause the two sides are too far apart and there simply isn't enough time yet. mark, i will begin with you, what happens if we go over the cliff? what will americans experience? >> well i think we are going to go over the cliff. quite frankly i think it is a good thing the prospects of getting a deal after january 1 are significantly higher and that is for three reasons. first now president obama has all the leverage. after january 1st the leverage shifts to the gop. because president obama perfectly going over the fiscal cliff to blame republicans because he can't default on the debt. he will have to compromise between now and february. second of all the baseline gets reset if the tax cuts expire. everybody will propose a tax cut in january and right now we're fighting whether to increase taxes or not. you can see possibility of a deal seen as win-win for both sides. third, if republicans don't come up with a deal, a bad deal right now, they still have the $800 billion in revenue they put on the table from limiting deductions and loopholes that they can use to buy
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down rates. so i think the odds are, after january 1 we will get a deal and it will be much more favorable deal to the republican party because we'll have the leverage and president obama won't. heather: simon, basically what mark's laid out there would be more of a bunge jump over the cliff instead after nosedive, what do you think about the possibility, good thing or bad? >> i think it is going to happen whether it is good or bad. hopefully in the first week to 10 days of the new year with the new congress and a fresh start that the two parties will be able to come together and hash this thing out. i think republicans have to be worried about the way the public has seen all this. i think they have enormous incentive to deal right now because the poll numbers show that obama's numbers are gaining. democratic numbers are gaining. they're up in the 50s. republicans are down in the 20s and 30s. i think republicans lost the economic debate for now with democrats. i think there is lot of pressure on them to get this deal done soon and then, you know, we will start all over again because there will be a presidential budget in
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february and we'll be back at the table, negotiating this with the republicans right away. so it is just, should be seen as a little fiscal break or a fiscal, we'll come up with a better analogy but temporary stopgap measure what will then be, we're going to be starting this debate all over again in february. heather: mark, in terms of, you know, who the blame is placed upon and in terms of the public, poll after poll does show that they will blame republicans. is that a matter of messaging from republicans and what can they do, if anything, to change that? what have they done wrong? >> number one of the rasmussen poll today showed 44% would blame republicans, 36% would blame obama. that is eight point gap. that is not bad. he is on air endorsing 98% of the bush tax cuts and opposing returning to the clinton rates, the man he worked for. very hard to say we have lost the economic debate. we're just discussing the how best to, i mean democrats are ones who said bush tax cuts should be
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temporary in 2001. now they're bee enmoing the fact we'll go back to the clinton rates which was supposed to be the booming '90s and golden years of economic growth. so i think that, here's, i think we've got a very good chance to get much better deal because republicans have leverage going in after january 1st. but if we don't get a dealings look i'm perfectly happy living under clinton tax rates. for all americans, not just for the rich but for everybody because the fact is, federal spending is now at the highest rate as percent of gdp since the 1940s. nobody except smokers and people paying going to tanning salons are paying higher taxes. we can't keep passes on bills to children and grandchildren. >> we won't cut spending and have pro-growth tax reform we all have to pay higher taxes. gop position should be live under the clinton rates until we have pro-growth tax reform. heather: simon, response to the part about spending cuts, and what is spending cuts is the obama administration talking about, guaranteed spending cuts? >> they already accepted a
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trillion dollars in domestic spending cuts in next 10 years. they put on the table additional cuts in medicare and social security not as much as republicans want but clearly they have moved on that. and i also think there will be substantial defense cuts, if we want to make a dent in the deficit. i mean this is the choice that is going to be in front of us. if, we have to do four things if we want to reduce the deficit. we have to get more revenue, we have to cut domestic spending, we have to trim and reform the health care programs in particular of medicare and medicaid and we have to cut defense. if we do all four of those things we can make significant down payment getting deficit under control. if we do some of them, the numbers are not there enough to make as much progress as we want. this is where mark and i agree. over next six to nine months we could see substantial progress towards smart fiscal policy in the country if the two parties come together. heather: we'll see what happens. thank you both very much for joining us until monday night. thank you. >> merry christmas.
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happy new year. [heavy breathing]. gregg: boy, remember that, video from april of 2011. monster tornado tearing through tuscaloosa, alabama, devastating the community and alberta baptist church. ever since then the church's pastor has been fighting insurers and fema and the city to try to rebuild. this month, finally some movement. elizabeth prann is live in atlanta with more on that. hi shz, elizabeth. >> reporter: hi, gregg, church members have been waiting more than a year to find out if church construction will take place. mine time they have been helping needy families in the community but now they know they will have a home before they know it. 82-year-old dorothy tyner, couldn't believe her eyes
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what the 2011 tornados did to her tuscaloosa church. >> i was shocked how much damage it did. >> reporter: alberta baptist was damaged beyond repair when the storm hit and congregants were forced to use another church miles away for sunday prayer. >> april the 11th, 2011 the heart of our city was ripped apart by this tornado. >> reporter: but the spirit of service still remains on the old site. parishioners use the parking lot for weekly meetings and community service. >> we just kind of became a distribution spot. people were coming in from all over the united states with supplies, with food, with clothing. >> reporter: staying in the community is important for everyone involved. even a tight budget and zoning restrictions won't prevent them from rebuilding according to church leaders who say this is what they're called to do. >> we felt assured that god wanted us to come back where he had planted us in the first place. so it wasn't a casual
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decision. >> reporter: now, gregg, all those members breathing a sigh of relief because the construction site was unscathed after the christmas day tornados on tuesday. back to you. gregg: elizabeth prann in atlanta. elizabeth, thanks. heather: coming up, new details on the investigation into what set off the killer in newtown, connecticut. research, are planning to study adam lanza's dna to see if it offers any clues. backlash over a map showing the addresses of gun permit holders in two new york counties. now an angry blogger is retaliating. that controversy is heating up with the spark cash card from capital one,
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[ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. gregg: welcome back. mother nature did not spare much her wrath this past year and our meteorologist janice dean is looking at the wild weather that was so bad it left parts of america completely unrecognizeable. >> 2012 had more than its fair share of wild weather. whether it was destructive, deadly or just plain hot, extreme weather affected americans in every part of the country. after a mild winter for most, spring roared in with tornados, twisters tore through several states, wiping out communities and killing several people. a devastating ef-4 tornado with winds up to 200 miles an hour hit the midwest.
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henryville and mariville, indiana, completely obliterated. heartbreaking stories of families ripped apart like this tragic case of toddler angel babcock. her family was killed when a twister struck her mobile home. she was found in a field later but died from her injuries. the summer brought scorching temperatures throughout the south and midwest along with historic drought conditions. with soaring temperatures, communities struggled to maintain their water supplies. farmers harvested just a fraction of their crops and ranchers were not able to feed their cattle. it was the worst drought in 50 years that plagued 2/3 of the nation. the drought conditions made it ripe for wildfires. the waldo canyon fire in colorado, raged for days killing two people, destroying over 300 homes, and scorching over 18,000 acres. it was fueled by the dry brush and fierce winds.
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the unrelenting heat also proved deadly in the mid-atlantic and midwest states after july storms killed at least 22 people across the area. it also knocked out power, leaving millions sweltering. heat-related deaths climbed the to at least 20 in the chicago area. the by easy was not spared this year. hurricane isaac making landfall near new orleans on the eve of the 7th anniversary of hurricane katrina. isaac made landfall as category 1 hurricane. the slow moving storm drenched coastal areas. here is one of the hardest hit areas, plaquemines parish. it moved slowly inland inundating communities in arkansas as it passed. eerie skies over phoenix as a massive dust storm called a haboob blows in. winds 40 miles an hour bringing dust and sand from the desert. 2012 also saw the birth of a superstorm, a devastating
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hurricane that collided with a powerful cold system from canada that slammed the northeast. sandy made landfall in south jersey late october, flooding beach communities, submerging highways and washing iconic boardwalks into the observing shun. new york city's downtown skyline fell dark. in breezy point, queens, homes went up in flames. areas of long island, staten island, filled with debris. sandy claimed at least 100 lives and changed the landscape of the jersey shore. and just a week later, another blow, when the area was blanketed by snow, sleet and rain from a nor'easter. according to fema, vicious heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes and severe storms will cost this year alone more than $100 billion in repair costs. in new york, i'm meteorologist, janice dean, fox news. heather: thank you, janice. right now, investigators in
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newtown, connecticut, are searching for answers in the devastating school shooting that shook this nation to its core. a gunman killing 26 women and children at the sandy hook elementary school before taking his own life. and now the medical examiner wants to take a detailed look into adam lanza's dna in an effort to understand possibly why. joining us is dr. richard her shim, from the hersceim center for comprehensive medicine. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. heather: first of all, what would doctors be looking for in his dn. and what would it tell them? >> what they're looking for is a specific gene that detects or determines whether someone will be prone to violent behavior and there have been several studies that have been actually done on genes in the past. one was in finland in 2010. and they did find there were specific genes associated with violent behavior. another in 2008 which
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identified something called a warrior gene, present in about 30% of men, also seems to predispose people to violent behavior. heather: talking about a genetic mutation. if they discover this is actually there, is there then anything they can do about it? does this lead to potential treatments down the road? >> well, i think we really need to understand there is no established science right now to determine whether or not a gene will predispose someone to violent behavior. i mean that's the first thing. this is a very complicated situation. people have genes. they don't always predispose or actually turn into a specific problem. and in this case if someone were to be found to have a gene, and this is a needle in a haystack, it might give some clues as to whether or not someone might or, other people might be predisposed to this kind of crime. heather: this would be a first of a kind study or a first of a kind research to >> again, there have been studies that have been done on violent offenders, and
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previously and we have gotten some body of evidence that helped us to determine whether this is a problem. where it is more established, where we're doing genetic testing where it is incredibly value in determining predisposing conditions such as taysak's disease or whether someone ends up with sickle cell anemia. whether someone is predisposed to alzheimer's or cancer it gets controversial and this particular probably the most controversial of all. heather: there are area of concerns this kind of research being done, one being a stigma for people attached to these genetic mutations. >> geneticists are torn about doing these types of tests. you might have say, 30% of the population might be predisposed to a particular kind gene but only a small percentage of them actually might commit a violent crime. the other individuals might actually find themselves
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discriminated against. geneticists and ethicists are concerned about this type of process but on the other hand the research is moving forward and we're trying to establish whether or not there are some correlations which might help to be predictive in the future. heather: finally, once you establish those correlations, what is ultimately the benefit or the goal? >> correct. i think the goal is to help us do what we do with other conditions, which are, medically related or genetically related. we try to help the individuals with either medications. find out whether or not in these cases closer monitoring might be useful and if there are other ways to monitor whether or not changes might take place. for instance we can check whether or not a mri or pet scan or ct scan in addition to psychological counseling and genetic testing might help give us a better idea whether or not someone is predisposed to a problem. we know that individuals and particularly young men who are predisposed to anxiety for instance, are at higher
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risk for committing violent crimes. if we can identify those individuals more carefully and thoroughly, we'll have a better idea how to use treatment. >> and get more answers. thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. heather: gregg is it ? gregg: new concerns for a iranian christian pastor just freed from jail after he was sentenced to death on charges he converted from islam to christianity. we're getting new reports he has been rearrested in iran on christmas day. heather: plus, this is the last thing shoppers expected at a popular mall. a 33 ton tank suddenly burst wide open spilling out, sharks.
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heather: welcome back. an update on atory we brought you yesterday on a westchester, new york newspaper, "the journal news", who decided to publish this map. it shows the names and addresses of people who have a permit for a handgun. in the wake of newtown shootings. well now a connecticut lawyer has reportedly published the home addresses and phone numbers of "the journal news" publisher and 50 employees on his blog. even added a google map satellite image of the publish's home. gregg?
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gregg: wow!. you're looking at me like you expect me to react like i did yesterday. heather: thought you might have an opinion on that. gregg: i was a little miffed i admit. all right. speaking of miffed, can you imagine being in a shopping mall when suddenly a buy ant a square numb -- aquarium bursts, sending glass, water and sharks flying toward shoppers? trace gallagher live in our west coast newsroom. trace, i would hate to be there. >> reporter: that is what i would say. this whole thing happened so fast. it was 33 tons and held 8,000 gallons of water. i want to show you it happened so quickly, i want to set it up if i can. you see the guy right here. he is photographerer. taking a shots of fish in the tank inside. these people are not paying attention. this is next to the cosmetic counter. people are outside. now roll the video, see how quickly the water pours out, blasts out. 8,000 gallons.
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sharks, three lemon sharks. dozens of starfish and turtles and fish. the injuries, see the shark flopping around down here? the injury didn't happen for all the water that was dangerous but all the flying glass. 16 people were injured and most of them by the flying glass. look at the cosmetic counter, right? a woman is actually working that and she is trapped underneath this. people are going in there rescuing trying to get her out of it. she was okay. none of the injuries were serious the authorities say the reason this thing collapsed, one because, it was so cold and two, because the bottom line is, this thing was built very, very poorly. the mall says it has no plans at all to rebuild that fish tank. we should note that all the sealife, the lemon sharks, the turtles, the fish, none of them survived. gregg: kind of a shame. well at least there were no major, major injuries. trace gallagher, thanks. heather: that was my question. trace answered it.
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i wondered what happened to the sharks. gregg: dead. heather: poor little things. gregg: oh, don't start talking about sharks and poor little things. heather: big things. i'm glad no people were injured. gregg: yeah, there you go. heather: with the new year comes more than 200 new laws going on the books and trace will be back with that and a breakdown for us. gregg: just when you thought it was over, new warnings of another little storm heading for the storm-ravaged northeast. we'll get a live report in minutes. heather: and new controversy over a move by russia's president that critics say is playing politics with the lives of orphans. what it could mean for americans who want to adopt overseas. our legal panel debates.
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greg: welcome back. jenna: a fox extreme weather alert. this is no system bringing heavy wind and rain and snow to the northeast for dumping as much as 1.5 feet of snow on new york and pennsylvania. after devastating parts of the golf coast with tornadoes speak to the system is moving slowly north. but don't put away the snow shovels yet. there is another storm on the way. jenna: maria molina joins us with the very latest. reporter: you guys are right.
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we have another snow system that will dump a lot more snow over the northeast, and it actually produced tornadoes on christmas day. you sure you guys that this was historical. there are lots of city scenes of 14 inches of snow. across parts of upstate new york, we have reports of snow coming down out there still. our current storm or an excellent system is starting to take shape, producing areas of light snow on parts of iowa and the midwest. the storm we are dealing with in the northeast is impacting areas that were already affected this weekend, including the areas of
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alabama, mississippi, and louisiana. more than 30 reports of tornadoes on christmas day. very unfortunate. as we head into this weekend, the storm is headed right here in the northeast. yet again, pennsylvania, upstate new york, we will see that snowfall a little bit further off towards the east. places like baltimore and new york city. you are actually going to get some snow here as we head into the weekend. accumulations shouldn't be too bad. the storm system will intensify once it exits the u.s. if you have some areas of light snow again across portions of the midwest. otherwise, the storm is dying down and it is exiting. across the state of maine and new hampshire. we do have storm warning in the northeast because the wind is picking up snow and blowing it around across porches of new
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york into new england. we are not really seeing delays that are too bad yet. but out of some airports like la guardia, there are a few delays that are averaging about 30 minutes or so. again, a winter storm warning for upstate new york, vermont, new hampshire, and the state of maine. the state of maine will see a lot of heavy snow as we head into tomorrow or in some areas expecting over 1 foot of snow. that is on top of what you already have on the ground. heather and greg, it looks like more snow is coming up in this region. heather: thank you very much, maria. speaking of snow, authorities say that they have extra snow moving equipment on the road. trying to keep up with the storm. in buffalo, new york, some residents are shocked at the effect on lake erie. >> i have only seen this happen
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once. probably in the last 20 years. i have never seen as many rocks here. i've never bring my bow. not into this area. heather: not into this day. greg, you will like this one. a bunch of the ski resorts are open for snowboarding and skiing this weekend. greg: let's go. [laughter] greg: there are some predictions on avoiding the fiscal cliff. while president obama has returned to washington dc to try to help lawmakers come up with a plan, how speaker john boehner says one of the groups leaders suggested that we are going over the fiscal cliff. it's all but guarantee. she progression congressional correspondent mike emanuel joins us now for. the president and the senators are in washington. that would appear to be a good sign, is that correct? reporter: yes and no. the tone publicly has not been very good so far.
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we know that the president obama, on the way back from hawaii, worked the phones a bit, talking to the top four congressional leaders. speaker boehner, nancy pelosi, mitch mcconnell, and harry reid. earlier today, the senate majority leader sounded frustrated with the republicans in congress. >> nothing can move forward unless speaker boehner and mitch mcconnell are willing to come up with a bipartisan plan to participate. speaker boehner is unwilling to negotiate. we have not heard a word since neither mcconnell. nothing has happened. >> i should note that senator reid was due for a news conference later this afternoon. that has since been canceled. perhaps the senate majority leader has decided to do his talking behind closed doors and hammer out a deal. greg: filled with metaphors, no doubt. what a republican saying about the status of the fiscal cliff negotiations? reporter: they have been pretty quiet so far. we know the speaker of the house and the republican leadership
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team in the house is due for a conference call with members that are still back in their home districts later this hour. we expect senate republican leader mitch mcconnell to be on the senate floor. the top of the next hour, so we should get some insight from him as well. some of the aides have suggested that eerie read should talk less and legislate more. meanwhile, a house republicans suggested -- well, it's not so good. >> the house is actually extend these tax rates for everybody in the entire country, which is exactly the correct policy as we see it. we send it to the senate, the senate refuses to take it up. the senate can fix this today if they wanted to. >> the bottom line is that republicans are expecting that the white house and/or democrats on the hill will make a final offer of some sort at some point. but timing is not clear. not at this time.
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greg: mike emanuel live on capitol hill. thank you very much. just ahead, we will ask kyle harrington about what could happen if we do end up going over the fiscal cliff. weill discuss the extraordinary measures being taken by treasury secretary tim geithner to make sure the u.s. does not reach its parliament. and end up defaulting on its debt. at roughly the same time. heather: that's a one-two punch. new developments in the growing crisis in syria. u.n. envoy calling for a transitional government run the country in order to end the conflict. russia's foreign minister mixon grimmer marks of such a plan actually working, saying that it still necessary to reach a peaceful solution. leland vittert has more on this. reporter: the russian foreign minister said that he feared that syria could turn into a
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bloody chaos that there was not some kind of negotiated settlement. many looking at the video that we see every day now coming out of syria. syria is already in a bloody chaos. more than 40,000 people killed. so far in this uprising. the death toll continues to rise every day. the rebels are now starting to gain momentum a little bit. pushing into damascus, some of the other larger cities. at the same time, the regime is growing more desperate and shelling of civilian areas and those kinds of things for the only lasswell might be the russians, who at some point could break away from this and getting their own traction. president bashir max as he is not leaving. the violence continues and we are at an impasse. there is now an increase in
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refugees. women and children and babies coming with only what they have on their backs. all of these people need to be clothed and fed. in the winter in syria, they also need to be kept warm to deal with the weather in jordanian we are seeing a lot of refugees as well. it is becoming a difficult humanitarian issue to deal with. it brings up a question that if there is no peace deal, if the syrian work continues, as most experts expect rational for a matter of months, but yours -- what do all these people? hundreds of thousands of them who are living in camps and simply are too afraid, and rightly so to go home. heather: leland vittert reporting live for us. thank you. greg: a controversial administration figure makes an
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unexplained departure. lisa jackson, the epa administrator, announces she will be leaving her post next month. heather: and it's a cornerstone of a healthy diet. but the price of milk could see a major hike. because of a truman era farm bill in the fiscal cliff. we will explain coming up next. greg: i love milk. also, politics and the lives of orphans. banning u.s. families from adopting russian children from and what it might mean for the future of parents everywhere who want to adopt children overseas really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal --
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heather: welcome back. epa administrator lisa jackson up and down after four years on the job. her tenure has been marked by controversy. including a high-profile fight with republicans over the keystone pipeline. she is also accused of using a
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secret e-mail alias to conduct official business. in a statement, she gave no reason for her departure, but said that she would be ready for a new challenge. she's expected to leave sometime next month's. greg: as lawmakers struggled with the fiscal cliff, treasury secretary timothy geithner is facing an equally harrowing deadline is the u.s. economy approaches its borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion. he says that he is being forced to use extraordinary measures. just to try try to keep things afloat for another few months. do you ever feel like groundhog day? paul harrington is a managing partner of harrington financial llc. i do feel like bill murray in his movie "groundhog day", the movie. it seems to be happening over and over again, doesn't it? [laughter] reporter: this narrative is tiring and frustrating. we have been talking about this every year.
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we do have a $16.4 trillion debt ceiling. i want people to realize that there are vibrational effects associated with going over or trying to extend the debt ceiling. one example is the credit rating of the united states. we already saw a downgrade their with our respective credit rating in the united states. if we are going to go through the debt ceiling once again, and i suspect that we will revisit having another downgrade to her credit rating. there are vibrational effects and the effects that you saw today. the dow jones industrial is down over 100 points. when you start to not be able to budget out some of these revenues and expenses come the marketplace will show the effects of that. in turn, will we do day in and day out is managed corporations money. there is a big vibrational
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effect. greg: anytime the government has to borrow billions of dollars, are they depriving businesses of credit? >> absolutely. businesses are closing down and i see that. even though credit ratings are very strong. that's the same for the mortgage marketplace. people with 700 credit scores or above are having a hard time, lending restrictions are becoming more difficult. there is a lack of certainty and the business environment. greg: some of the things that they are trying to wrestle with are not just taxes going up on everybody. but also things like the alternative minimum tax, not to
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forget payroll tax. none of that is addressed in legislation, is that? >> literature that i've read through, i don't see any attention being paid to that. quite frankly, i am surprised that more hasn't been paid to taxes and spending earlier on. here we are in the last inning, trying to avoid going over the debt ceiling by issuing low-priced treasury securities, suspending those so that we don't hold the debt ceiling. we don't want breathing room until february. we want to have a plan in place that outlines a good plan. greg: procrastinators in washington dc -- they don't do anything unless they have to, right? >> it seems that way. it's unfortunate because i don't realize the exact ramifications.
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greg: thank you so much for joining us. happy holidays. >> happy holidays to you as well. heather: coming up, the person sentenced to death and then set free for converting from muslim to christianity. more coming up next. greg: a look at some crazy new laws in the books for 2013
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heather: a changing of the guard in hawaii as lieutenant governor is filling in the seat of longtime senator daniel inouye. he said the congresswoman should replace him, and his decision was defended by saying that he was looking out for the best interest of the party in his
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state. >> to the people of hawaii, i can assure you this. i will give every fiber of my being doing a good job for the state of hawaii. we have a long and perhaps difficult road ahead of us, but we can succeed if we work together. >> of course senator inouye's views were taken into consideration. of i extension of myself as the governor, was to act in the overall best interest of the party. after all, the state and the nation needs this democratic senator to be replaced. heather: he was a world war veteran and medal of honor recipient, he died on december 17, he was 88 years old. greg: beginning in the new year, more than 200 new state laws are going to be on the books. here now with a preview of how
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to stay out of trouble is trace gallagher, biden or west coast newsroom. >> many laws you have not heard about. for example, newark state now, it is illegal for you to sell electronic cigarettes to minors. in illinois, if you are applied for a job, your would-be boss can no longer ask for your social networking password. that has been deemed in violation of your privacy. if you riding motorcycle in illinois, you can run red lights. if you'd like when you get on your bike, it's not heavy enough to trigger the sensors to turn the lights from red to green. so they save you wait there for two minutes and the coast is clear, you are free to go. illinois, illinois now has
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banned the sale of all shark suit. in california you can no longer use dogs to chase down by pairs and the humane society says it's bad for the bears and bobcats and the dogs. and computer-driven vehicles are now okay. as long as there is a human in the passenger seat in case the computer takes over come you have someone to grab control of the car. by the way, do you think the gridlock in washington dc is not? in kentucky they have taken pensions off the books. pensions for confederate soldiers. kentucky is on the same path as washington. greg: the way to go kentucky.
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way to go. thank you, trace gallagher. heather: that is so interesting. greg: especially in kentucky, gollum was a nail biter. heather: are you making your new year's eve plans? and includes fox news all-america new year's eve starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern on new year's eve. megyn kelly and bill hemmer will bring in the big event live from times square in new york city. you can be part of the broadcast by texting your happy new year's message to the show. type a brief message and send it to 36288. follow the instructions on the screen. greg: that is what i'm going to
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do. speak to something a little bit more creative and happy new year? [laughter] greg: don't send me off the fiscal cliff. heather: coming up next, milk. it could hurt your wallet after the first of the year if congress does not act fast. a little known law from the. it may having us pay double for milk after the new year. greg: an international outcry. just ahead, we will speak with ahead of the group leading the charge to free this man
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heather: he talks extreme weather alert for you now or are the death toll rising from a devastating winter storm system that is still slamming some parts with major snowfall. fifty people are now dead. with more than 1.5 feet of snow in parts of the northeast. a storm system that devastated the gulf coast community with rare winter tornadoes. it is expected to stop tomorrow, that is the good news. we are tracking the storm and we will bring you the latest live as it happens. greg: let's call it the milk fiscal cliff if congress doesn't take action before new year's
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day. the price of jury could more than doubled because of a law enacted way back in the 1940s. a reporter is live with the details. dominic? reporter: no one is doing anything about this in washington yet. a gallon of milk could reach $8 if we go over what they are calling the milk cliff. a new farm bill could be approved in budget cuts here is what will happen if the deal doesn't get done. what they call permanent law, says the government has to buy huge stocks of milk at twice the price. farmers will flock to the government as they make easy money, that causes a shortage of milk in the commercial market, and the agriculture industry says the hold up is disastrous. >> this is a bad outcome.
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i don't think we should want, nor should we advocate for, nor should congress consider it a good outcome if permanent law goes into effect. reporter: the dairy industry says congress can wrap this up quickly, but if it doesn't, it looks like more than just the cows. >> things like wheat and corn. it wouldn't kick in until the growing season, those pieces of legislation are tied into the growing season for those crops. that wouldn't be until this spring. so really milk is the first, but not the only commodity that would be affected in the absence of the new farm bill. reporter: there is an outside chance for broader fiscal cliff resolution and an extension to the existing farm bill. perhaps, no crying over build
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milk. greg: i knew you were going to slide on them. >> i had to. [laughter] heather: a christian pastor is arrested for second time in iran on christmas day. he had been sentenced to death on charges from converting from islam to christianity. it turns out that that wasn't his only charge. now he is been brought back into service entrance. as we learn, his lawyer is also being targeted just for trying to help them. his group has been leading the charge. thank you for joining us. bring us up to speed on the latest information as you know it. four welcome we have a situation
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where the pastor was arrested on december 25. there are two prominent christian pastors in jail. pastor psyd has been in prison in iran as it is, this gentleman on the rearrest. legally his term was complete because they let him out and said that he was not guilty of the higher charge and it was more of the evangelizing. we have a situation where the lawless regime is trying to flex its muscles. targeting two christian pastors and this other american pastor also in prison now as well. basically, it's the same thing. they don't want their religious pastors outside of muslim to exercise their rights. they even have it in the constitution that the reality is that pastors are not feeling it
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at all. to the contrary, his lawyer, who is a muslim, by the way -- is in jail. a nine-year sentence for his crimes is representing the pastor and winning the case against him. his victory for that was nine years in prison and 10 years being disbarred. he is in prison right now is while. heather: a couple of questions to follow up on that. a nine-year sentence, how much of that? how much will he have to serve? how much longer of a sentence are they asking that he serve out? 1000 is already is what he has served. >> yes, three years, basically. we are hopeful to get him out immediately. this is an absolute tragedy. a travesty of justice. this is an unbelievable situation. they arrested prominent human rights lawyer who successfully
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represented the pastor, and then they disbarred him. he prohibited him from practicing law for teaching. what it's going to take to get him out of jail as people around the world of goodwill thing that iran doesn't get away with it. it include the state department and the united nations. with all the talk going on, i understand there are a lot going on and they were very helpful. i'm hoping that they will be able to go out again. hopefully the u.n. will step in now and end this charade of justice that is taking place. heather: finally, what about any danger that the pastor would be facing at this time? finally, what type of statement do you think he is trying to make? clearly, they're trying to make some sort of statement picking him up on christmas day. >> you have the iranian revolutionary guard involved, the one that is an american
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citizen, the revolutionary guard, and they believe that christianity is a crime if the state. they don't like christians in iran, and they are trying to exercise their authority. the message is that it was christmas day. that's no coincidence. anytime any individual that we are representing, whether it is one of these pastors or lawyers, you have to be worried an iranian jail. those jails are notorious for brutality. we are not taking anything for granted here. we are not leaving any stone unturned. trying to secure all three the release. heather: good work and we wish you the best. heather: as 2012 winds to a close, we are looking back at the international stories that made headlines all over the world. conor powell begins with a financial crisis in europe. >> the eurozone continues with a
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huge financial hole. standard & poor's downgraded in nine countries in the union. financial ministers reaching an agreement on another greek bailout. a lot of trouble with debt ridden banks. europe demanding an end to stringent austerity measures that all this resulted in the eurozone going back into another recession. thirty-two people dead, including two americans off the coast of italy. when the cost of concorde a cruise ship runs aground >> more than 79 people killed and 8000 injured. a district court says that they would like to oust president hosni mubarak to life in prison. and mohammed morsi, of the muslim brotherhood party takes
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charge for it in november, he grants himself absolute power that brings thousands of protesters to the streets of cairo, egypt. three members of a russian all-female punk band stage a protest against vladimir putin are sent to jail for hooliganism. inciting worldwide protest and demand for the release. rupert murdoch launches into the successor role of news of the world. president bashar al-assad and a cease-fire agreement, negotiated by former u.n. secretary. tens of thousands of people killed since march of last year. the death toll continues climbing almost daily. green on blue insider attacks increasing in afghanistan. one in 50 u.s. and international
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soldiers killed this year by their afghan partners. it is pop and circumstance for great britain's queen elizabeth ii. china becomes the third country behind the u.s. and russia to use successfully dock and land spacecraft. libya holding its first free election in six years. 2.7 million voters choosing a 200 member assembly, and they draft libya's constitution. after three of the country's power grid's collapse, they experienced the largest blackout in the world. 640 million people without power. london's 2012 summer olympic games proves to be a record-breaking sporting events.
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michael phelps becomes the most decorated olympian of all time. twenty-two olympic medals. an online anti-muslim film sparking protests around the world. the maker of the movie is in jail in california on unrelated charges. what was originally believed to be an unrelated incident, for americans, including ambassador christopher stevens, are killed of the u.s. consulate in benghazi on 9/11. it is felt that that attack is an act of terror and had nothing to do with the anti-muslim video. killing three of al qaeda's leaders, the u.s. does so in their sector of the terrorist organization becoming more of a shell of its former self. benjamin netanyahu drawing a red line at the u.n. general assembly, indicating iran's approach to the final stage of nuclear bomb. the obama administration holds up israeli military action, which could likely result in the
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u.s. being pulled in through the complex. causing regionwide mayhem. hurricane sandy rips through the caribbean. evacuations, power loss, and death in jamaica, haiti, the dominican republic, and cuba. hamas militants fire missiles indiscriminately into israel, reaching as far as tel aviv and jerusalem. israel responds with heavy bombardment. hamas and israel reach a cease-fire agreement. the u.n. general assembly agreed u.n. status to palestinian authorities and a pakistani teacher teenager is shot and had a knack for for campaigning to the right of an education. it sparks international outrage.
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many eyes will be on israel next year. this is the iranian president is scheduled to step down in june. conor powell, boxers. greg: an international incident over adoptions were to head now. russia's president saying he is going to sign a bill that would ban adoption by any american. what does this mean for dozens of families preparing to welcome their adopted children we met our legal panel is here to debate. heather: helping paralyzed people walk again. the high-tech medical technology helping real-life miracles happen. we will show you how it works
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greg: president vladimir putin accused of playing politics with the lives of orphans after saying that he is going to sign a controversial ban on adoption by any american of russian children. the state department just minutes ago saying that the idea of this, some of the parents would find her adoptions roseanne, would be unfair to the parents and kids involved. it has already been a controversial subject. the 7-year-old was placed in a plane and his mother saying the boy was violent and her family feared for their safety.
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russia's foreign minister at the time called the last off after a string of foreign adoption failures. some of the children killed by adoptive parents. joining me now is attorney david wohl and janet jackson. so what is your take on this, david? >> you know, 1999, 45,000 russian kids had been adopted by american families. the vast majority of them engraved loving homes. there have been a few cases of abuse and neglect. no question about it. but this act by by mayor putin is nothing short of an act of child abuse. so many american homes have stepped in to fill the void. there are about 46 adoptions in midstream. funding has taken place between parents and the kids.
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for that to be destroyed, i would hope that there is an international tribunal that would intervene in this disastrous position by vladimir putin. it hurts the kids, it's nothing less than child abuse, and it needs to be reversed. greg: jannette, what you can? >> i think he has given himself an out. he has one year to change the agreement that the u.s. and russia have in place for these adoptions. so those children, going forward, he is saying that any more criminals russia can't own property in the u.s. it's a pr disaster for latin american. greg: i would think so. >> we covered this with megyn kelly a couple of years ago. the woman they did send that
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child back, she sent him out with a note that said he was a psychotic violent kid. that was a horrendous act of child abuse in and of itself, but the courts ordered her to pay $150,000 in damages and support him until he's 18 years old. so there has been a remedy for that child abuse. vladimir putin needs to acknowledge that because you're only hurting the kids. don't play politics with kids lives. >> explain the quid pro quo in the politics involved? >> yes, with vladimir putin, you never know what the mindset is. but he is reacting to a law that was recently signed by the president, saying that if someone is a convicted war criminal in russia, they can't own property. they have certain rights that they cannot exercise in the united states. he was apparently miffed about that. in response, he is taking these
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children hostage and saying, okay, then you cannot adopt. because americans are utilizing russian orphanages, adopting kids that they can't get in the united states. he also was insulted saying that this shouldn't be a reason to not let people adopt. i don't think he wants to say that. greg: yes, cold war politics. >> it is, it's retaliation. >> it sure is. you can't get around that. you need to put the lives of the kids first. it is reprehensible. but the bottom line is, i have seen adoptions and i have been representing kids and it turns out there is a convicted felon. the devastation that happens to these kids when they fall out of an adopted place is irreparable. let's not let these 46 adoptions fall apart. let them go through. patch up whatever it takes on
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this quid pro quo nonsense and get this going. greg: david and janet, thank you both. great to see you both. >> thank you three thank you, greg. heather: coming up, a high-tech suit could bring real miracle spray technology straight out of that movie iron man. it's helping paralyzed people take what could be their first steps. greg: they are called man's best friend. these puppies at one united states ski resort could wind up saving the lives of people buried in an avalanche. >> she's very interested in what's going on around her. she's very engaged
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greg: we are just getting word on capitol hill that after a gop conference call on the republican side, they have decided to come back to washington dc on sunday night. beginning at 6:30 p.m., they will be in session sunday through friday. now, the 112th new congress begins on january 3. honestly, because of the fiscal cliff, not to mention the debt ceiling deadline, which is december 31, both of them that day -- they are coming back early. now, we are being told that on
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the hill they will be waiting on the u.s. senate to take action. but the house will be in session for the week. sunday through friday. waiting on the senate to do something. we will wait and see. heather: senator harry reid saying they're waiting on the hotspur and let's see what happens. greg: cool first. heather: new hope for people who are paralyzed. the chance to walk again. new technology is being tested out at 30 hospitals all around the country. including at mount sinai in new york. doctor marc siegel joins us with more information on this. such a promising story. reporter: how are you doing? heather: it's great to see you. reporter: an incredible technological advance using robots is now taking center stage. we visited mount sinai hospital here in new york, one of 30 hospitals around the country that are experimenting with this so-called exoskeleton.
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a 40-pound computer device that has motors. i caught up with this man that was paralyzed in a car crash. how does it feel? >> it feels great. i mean, it brings a smile to my face every time i use it. it gets better as you use it. you get more used to it. hopefully eventually i will be on my own doing this. but it feels great. it's wonderful to be able to take these steps. reporter: do you want your legs move? >> yes, time to time i look down, but i try not to. i'm trying to get used to it without that and without thinking about it for tonight does this bring your spirits up? >> yes. reporter: i see you smiling. >> yes, absolutely.
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this is one of the biggest ego boosts that could be made. i am fortunate enough to be a test pilot. reporter: this exoskeleton was developed by the military to allow soldiers to carry heavy weights long distances. the real-life "iron man" uses two lithium batteries, computer chips, and hand-operated console. it has immediate potential for home use. it allows the patient to use his upper arms and body to push his legs, and arms initiate the function of using his legs. those in charge of the project say that working with the exoskeleton has many benefits for it strengthens muscles and bones in the heart and improves your mood and circulation. now, one downside is cost. up to $140,000 for a single unit. but as the technology gets more proficient and easier to use, cost will come down. the potential upside is that
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these units may one day be available for paralyzed patients everywhere. replacing many of the common uses a wheelchair. heather: you mention all those benefits. giving so many people hope. how does it work to strengthen the muscles? reporter: this christmas season come you want this kind of hope. disabled patients are saying, can this be for me? actually, muscles from misuse, this kind of device by getting you up and walking is going to be strengthen the muscles, which has all kinds of health benefits, including circulation. heather: it could benefit so many people. for people with stroke, those who are paralyzed, anyone with this kind of interlocked neurological condition. the price will come down as technology improves. heather: thank you so much, doctor marc siegel. heather: greg?
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greg: we have the latest on the deadly winter storm. a lot of folks have had their travel plans canceled or delayed. next . mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'.
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they're called man's best friend. here's one more reason why. puppies.are being trained in washington state to be part of a avalanche rescue team. the ski patrol is a response to an avalanche last

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